70% below the poverty line: elderly immigrants demand guarantees from parties

A month before the elections, the 'Hazit HaKavod' movement and the 'Forum for the Support of Elderly Immigrants' are demanding concrete commitments from parties. A package of demands for 2027–2030 was presented to opposition leader Yair Lapid. The key demand is to equalize the rights of Holocaust survivors who immigrated after October 1, 1953, with those who arrived before that date. According to the movement, over 70% of the former live below the poverty line, compared to about 1% of the latter. Lapid promised to advance the relevant bill.

A month before the Knesset elections, the 'Hazit HaKavod' movement and the 'Forum for the Support of Elderly Immigrants' are launching a campaign to obtain concrete commitments from political parties for elderly immigrants. The first package of demands for 2027–2030 was presented on September 22 to opposition leader and former Prime Minister Yair Lapid and representatives of the 'Yesh Atid — BeYachad' party. The key demand is to equalize the social rights of Holocaust refugees who immigrated to Israel after October 1, 1953, with those who arrived before that date. According to the movement, among Holocaust refugees who arrived after October 1, 1953, over 70% live below the poverty line, while among those who immigrated before that date, the figure is about 1%. President of 'Hazit HaKavod' Alexander Berman noted that Lapid, as Finance Minister in 2014, carried out a reform that granted official Holocaust survivor status to about 80,000 immigrants from the USSR. Lapid confirmed that in the next Knesset, he will advance MK Tatiana Mazarskaya's bill to equalize rights. The broader package of demands includes raising the minimum old-age pension, increasing rental assistance, and revising the criteria for recognizing immigrants from the former USSR as Holocaust survivors. The movement will send the package of demands to all parties.